An online petition launched this week is calling on Cardinal Francis George, the Chicago Archbishop, to resign from his post following a comment he made on a Chicago news station that compared LGBT rights advocates to the Ku Klux Klan.

When asked by the Fox host that his comparison was "a little strong," Cardinal George stood by it.

"It is, but you take a look at the rhetoric," he continued. "The rhetoric of the Ku Klux Klan, the rhetoric of some of the gay liberation people. Who is the enemy? Who is the enemy? The Catholic Church."

"It is outrageous that Cardinal George would place law-abiding, peaceful citizens in the same category as a notoriously violent hate group," Truth Wins Out's executive director Wayne Besen said in a statement. "George's resignation is his only road to redemption and if he has a shred of dignity and a sliver of class he will immediately step down."

Other LGBT advocates have said the Cardinal's statement was out of line and joined in the call for his resignation.

"At this point, an apology is not enough," Baim wrote. "George has proven he is out of touch with the progress of the LGBT movement in this city and country, and he should pass the torch to a new generation of Catholic leadership."

LGBT groups are not the only ones who have spoken out against the Cardinal's comment.

"I have spent most of my adult life engaged in the civil rights struggle for African American people who have been terrorized by racist Klan violence," Lee said. "I am insulted by the comparison of the Klan to the current LGBT movement. When we distort the history of terror for cheap political aims, we only inflict pain on those whose lives have been scarred by the Klan."